Nokia seems to be riding high in the U.S. with its Lumia 900 smartphone that runs Microsoft's Windows Phone 7.5 operating system. The company is seeing high demand for its flagship smartphone on AT&T's wireless network and is reportedly in talks with Verizon to expand its market presence in the U.S.

As a result of its precarious place in the worldwide phone market, Nokia is looking to make some drastic changes to put out the flames on this burning ship. Today, Nokia announced a plan of action that centers around three key goals:

Invest strongly in products and experiences that make Lumia smartphones stand out and available to more consumers;

Invest in location-based services as an area of competitive differentiation for Nokia products and extend its location-based platform to new industries; and

Improve the competitiveness and profitability of its feature phone business.

In an effort to follow through this plan, Nokia looking to its Lumia brand of smartphones to showcase its innovative side and reclaim market share back from industry heavyweights like Samsung and Apple. "We intend to pursue an even more focused effort on Lumia, continued innovation around our feature phones, while placing increased emphasis on our location-based services," said Stephen Elop, Nokia president and CEO. "However, we must re-shape our operating model and ensure that we create a structure that can support our competitive ambitions."

Nokia CEO Stephen Elop

Nokia is also shaking up its executive team. Effective July 1, 2012, Juha Putkiranta will become executive vice president of Operations; Timo Toikkanen will take over as executive vice president of Mobile Phones; Chris Weber will service as executive vice president of Sales and Marketing; Tuula Rytila will claim a position as senior vice president of Marketing and Chief Marketing Officer; and Susan Sheehan assume the role as senior vice president of Communications.

Executives on the way out the door effective June 30, 2012 include Jerri Devard (chief marketing officer), Mary McDowell (executive vice president of Mobile Phones), and Niklas Savander (executive vice president of Markets).

Perhaps the most drastic change, however, is Nokia's decision to eliminate 10,000 employees worldwide by the end of 2013. These job losses will come as a result of the closure of Nokia facilities in Finland, Germany, and Canada along with the streamlining of its corporate, IT, and support functions.

"These planned reductions are a difficult consequence of the intended actions we believe we must take to ensure Nokia's long-term competitive strength," added Elop. "We do not make plans that may impact our employees lightly, and as a company we will work tirelessly to ensure that those at risk are offered the support, options and advice necessary to find new opportunities."